Fire at godown in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar doused with help from Air Force | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Fire at godown in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar doused with help from Air Force

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByAnvit Srivastava
May 30, 2018 04:24 PM IST

A massive blaze broke out at a godown in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. Air Force has joined the operation to douse the ‘highest magnitude’ fire.

A massive blaze that erupted in a rubber factory of a densely-populated south Delhi neighbourhood on Tuesday evening was brought under control on Wednesday after an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi17V5 chopper was deployed to spray water, officials said.

Firefighters attempt to douse a massive fire that broke out at a plastic and rubber warehouse near a school at south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar in New Delhi.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)
Firefighters attempt to douse a massive fire that broke out at a plastic and rubber warehouse near a school at south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar in New Delhi.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The IAF chopper fitted with a bambi bucket had to carry out sorties, spray hundreds of litres of water to wrestle the blaze under control.

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Romil Baaniya, deputy commissioner of police (south), said a case under section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible mat­ter) and section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been filed at Malviya Nagar police station.

Along with the police teams, teams of Delhi Disaster Management Authority, Delhi Fire Services and civil defence were also present. At least 70 fire tenders were used to contain the fire, said a fire officer.

Chief fire officer of the Delhi fire services, Atul Garg, who fell unconscious during the firefighting operations on Tuesday night said he is stable now.

Fire officers said the blaze was of the “highest magnitude” this season. Plastic and raw material stored at the factory fuelled the fire.

Aam Aadmi Party legislator Somnath Bharti also visited the spot on Tuesday.

Police and DDMA staff made continuous announcements, asking residents to stay inside their houses. All vehicles were removed as precautionary measure.

Thick pile of smoke rises from a warehouse in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)
Thick pile of smoke rises from a warehouse in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Speaking to Hindustan Times earlier on Tuesday evening, Garg said the fire was reported at their control room at 4.17pm.

“The fire started from a truck and spread to a godown of rubber and plastic raw material where the vehicle was parked. The godown is right behind Sant Nirankari Public School and had it occurred in the afternoon, evacuation of children would have been challenging, as the area is congested,” Garg said.

AAP’s Bharti said the incident brings to fore his pending demand of a fire station nearby. On whether the godown was being illegally run, Somnath said it is a matter of investigation.

“There’s a chemical factory behind the school. We saw the fire around 4.30 pm and one of the residents called the fire department and police. Smoke entered our houses,” said Rajni Kapani, who lives right in front of the godown.

Veenu Mansharamani, another resident, said such godowns next to a school building are illegal. “The area is residential and the fire could have easily engulfed houses. The situation could have been worse,” she said.

Earlier this year, 17 persons died in a fire at a cracker storage factory in outer Delhi’s Bawana. Last month in Kohat Enclave, a fire on the ground floor of a building killed a couple and their two minor children.Earlier this month, in west Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar, two children died in a fire in their building.

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